


Soldiers and Captains

by summarized



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-03
Updated: 2014-06-03
Packaged: 2018-02-03 06:41:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1734878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summarized/pseuds/summarized
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is a Soldier and there is a Captain... the trick is knowing who's who...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Soldiers and Captains

He ends up fighting.

He always ends up fighting, he thinks.

Besides, what else can he do?

Give up of course. Run away.

But he can only do that for so long and wouldn’t that defile the memory of the one person who had dared to stand beside him.

Others hoped that he would fight.

Whether they cared that he was weary or not he didn’t know.

But perhaps that doesn’t matter right now.

Right now, Captain or not, he just has to survive long enough and win.

Shield on his arm, guns at the ready.

 

 

The asset, the weapon, the soldier.

He’s been called many things.

But never by a name. An actual name.

Then the man on the bridge.

And for some reason it somehow means something.

And it’s not just a name.

It’s a look in the eye.

The sound of a voice.

Words spoken a certain way, almost like a trigger. Perhaps exactly like a trigger.

It awakens something within. A deep burning need.

And instead of “kill” it now becomes “protect”.

Fight and defend.

 

 

Natasha remembers. Finally remembers.

Not the assignment. Not the mission. Not the shot. Not even the soldier.

Just the man.

And dare she say a friend.

As a young girl, it’s the most unusual task she’s ever been given.

Take care of him her superiors said.

She did not understand, but she followed.

She sat by his bedside, helped feed him, watched over as he cleaned and dressed himself and assisted when he couldn’t. And of course, speak to him.

She learned English from him. Learned to speak it the way he did.

She did not have any stories to tell but the man did.

He spoke of a home far way. Growing up in hard times but making due and a boy who was always with him.

He shows her kindness and compassion and always apologises.

He’s sorry that he’s not strong enough. He’s sorry that he cannot help her. Cannot help her escape. Cannot offer a chance at a better life.

In those moments, Natasha had said nothing for the things that he had said made no sense to her.

She also pretends not to know about the pain that he is no doubt going through. Whether it’s in his own head or at the hands of others.

 

 

The Captain and his allies go searching.

They look for answers wherever they can find it.

They do find their answers. And what they find confounds them as much as it sickens and angers them.

It involves a man, a girl and able bodies willing to manipulate them both.

The man is found, injured severely but alive.

They see this as a chance. A great opportunity to create the perfect soldier.

And they take it.

But it’s not as easy as they expected.

He’s still a living breathing being and despite being weak he fights.

Struggles against restraints. Resists treatment and other experimental procedures. Endures pain.

Until one of them decides to play on his humanity. So, they bring in the girl. Little Natalia.

As anticipated they form a bond and they use it against the man.

They threaten the girl. They say that if he does not submit they will do to her what they are trying to do to him.

Thinking the girl will be spared the man, begrudgingly, abides by their wishes.

What happens next is coldness, blackness and blood.

 

 

Arguably, The Soldier’s makers did stay true to their word.

On the other hand, they still moulded Natalia into an ideal operative. She became the infamous Black Widow.

Years later, when both of them would finally break away, Natasha again finds herself by The Soldier’s bedside.

You’re all grown up, he says. They still used you didn’t they, he says. I’m sorry, he says.

Natasha is unable to speak. Then again, what on earth could she possibly say?

It’s one of the few times she openly cries in the presence of another.

Now that she knows the whole story, Natasha cannot bring herself to hate this man.

True he had hurt her, but she had hurt him just as badly.

They have ruined each other and they have ruined countless others.

To this day, Natasha still struggles with the things that have been done to her in her youth. How much more this man, who has suffered decades worth if it?

 

 

There’s a strange case of déjà vu.

There’s fire, and weapons going off, structures going down, allies and enemies attacking one another, people running around, people dying or getting close or as good as, people surviving (at least for the time being).

It’s no secret that The Captain’s allies don’t trust The Soldier let alone want to be in the same room as him, but they don’t have a lot of options at this point.

For now he’s on their side and that will have to suffice.

But even The Soldier himself cannot deny that there is something familiar and completely natural about fighting next to The Captain.

Maybe The Captain was right. They had done this before.

 

 

Call it poetic justice, if you like, that the creation destroys the creator.

To The Captain’s allies it had still comes as a surprise (as well as a huge relief). No one was entirely certain where The Soldier’s gun was aimed at, where his knife was ready to be embedded.

In the end, The Soldier himself takes out the last head and together with The Captain leaves everything burned, dead and buried.

For the first time in a long time, they can finally rest.

Later, someone would point out that it probably wasn’t a good idea to name an entire organisation after a creature that still ended up getting killed.

 

 

The Soldier and Stark’s son will never be friends. That’s a fact. ‘Acquaintance’ may be more suitable.

The only thing they agree on is that they have to tolerate each other for the sake of The Captain’s well being.

But it is from Tony Stark that The Soldier realises that he must be honest.

_“You know why I can’t stand you? It’s because you’re this big fucking grey area that nobody knows what to do with and we all have plenty of shit that we already don’t know how to deal with damnit!_

_It’s automatic to hate you. You’re the one who… well, you know what you did. You killed them. My parents weren’t perfect but they didn’t deserve that. I hate you for it._

_But at the same time I know what you’ve gone through and that you weren’t responsible, that you weren’t given a choice. That logic right there is the only thing that’s stopping me from murdering you with my bare hands._

_The only person who really gives a shit about you is him._

_And we may not show it all the time, but we do actually care about him._

_And he is the only reason why you are still alive.”_

After Tony’s rant, there’s along drawn out pause.

The genius billionaire then tells him to help ‘lift up that hunk of junk’ and they spend the next few hours in companionable silence with The Soldier assisting however way he can with Tony’s various projects.

It’s an almost friendly way to spend an afternoon.

 

 

It’s been many months since he was reunited with The Captain and The Soldier still gets plagued by nightmares and doesn’t remember as much as he would like, but at least he’s gotten used to using his name again.

 _Steve._ He is _Steve Rogers_ again.

The Captain is also no longer the ‘Captain’ or even the ‘target’ or the ‘mission’. He’s just _Bucky Barnes. Bucky. Steve’s Bucky._ He is everything to Steve. Indeed, Bucky has always been, ever since they crossed paths as children in a back alley somewhere in Brooklyn.

Even when he had nothing, he had Bucky.

Perhaps it’s been a long time coming but Steven Grant Rogers has acknowledged that if there’s anyone he should belong to it’s at the side of James Buchannan “Bucky” Barnes.

_“You’re important to me. You’re important to me because you value me. You value me even though I’m nothing. And that means something to me.”_

_“You’re not nothing Steve…”_

_“Before, I was valued for my skills. Because I was a good soldier. I was a weapon. I was useful. Now I’m nobody but you still want me. You knew me when I was just skin and bones and caused nothing but trouble.”_

_“Steve I told you…”_

_“ And even then you stayed by me. I don’t remember a lot people doing that.”_

Steve gently brings his arms around Bucky and draws him closer.

_“I will do anything for you Bucky. We died for each other. Now I want us to live the way we finally can.”_

At this, Bucky allows his tears to fall.

_“Yeah, you’re a real punk Rogers but I love you no matter what. And I’m a selfish jerk anyway and I’m so glad that I get to have you all to myself.”_

When Steve kisses Bucky, every ounce of love they have for each other can no doubt be felt.

That night, they make love again after a dry spell literally spanning several decades. They come together so beautifully it’s as if they’ve never been frozen in stasis, never lost a limb and had metal ones reattached, haven’t been tortured or brainwashed, like they aren’t marked by the blood that’s trailing behind them.

It’s a wonderful thing they’ve rediscovered: to belong to someone and have them be equally yours.

It’s also a peculiar thing to contemplate. Really, they are free to leave. They do not own each other yet they allow themselves to be possessed. If ever the other should go, the one left behind would feel as though they have lost.

It’s a frightening notion, yet at the same time profound.

Both Steve and Bucky already know what it’s like to lose. As they lay in each other’s arms in the dead of night, they know for certain that they never want to experience something like that again.

“ _To the end of the line_ ”, they said.


End file.
